Q&A: How to Get the Best Curl From a Curling Iron

I know you know that a quick and easy way to change up your day to day style is to add in a few curls with an iron. At least in theory.

Yet in your hands is a curling iron more magic wand or instrument of destruction?

Have you found getting the perfect head of curls more than a little bit tricky with this hot styling tool?

Have amazing, effortless curls eluded you for some unknown reason?

I know the feeling.

But listen up. It is possible to master a curly look from an iron without wrecking havoc on your hair. It may be nothing more than understanding the tool or avoiding curling iron mistakes you didn’t know you were making.

Okay, lovelies, obviously today’s burning question involves how to get the best curl from a curling iron. Because when you are looking to create some bouncy, natural-looking body you fire up your trusty curling iron, right?

Right.

There’s a great reason that or a flat iron are used so often by so many to instill some curl. With a just bit of know-how and a few minutes with one of these you can alter your entire look.

Luckily the hot styling tools on the market today offer a faster, safer, and gentler way to get to the final destination – curls! Whether it’s soft, romantic waves or bouncy curls you too can produce a salon look at home – if you have the right tool for the job.

Yet you may mistakenly be under the assumption that there is nothing new under the sun when it comes to curling iron technique. Especially when some consider it kind of old school anyway.

Actually as you’ll see in the video below, there just may be a new way for girls who want curls to get the natural soft curly look they seek. A look you will just love…love…love.

But first a refresher course on the standard curling iron technique. Or how some get a great curl from their curling iron:

Apply your fav heat protectant – you do use one don’t you?

Next section your hair into smaller sections

Give the sectioned off lock of hair a bit of a twist

Wrap each twisted section around the barrel of your curling iron

After you let it slip off the heated barrel let it sit a bit before you mess with it

When you are all done curling bend at the waste and toss or tousle it a little to release the loose curliness. Breaking up the curls with your fingers will release their inner beach-iness.

Result? You should end up with a lovely beachy curls look. Or soft curls galore!

Of course this is only possible if you have a reliable curling iron. If you need help with that this curling iron guide might be just the thing. I’ll bet there is lots you don’t know about something you may use all the time.

Iron Age Technology

Question: Does a tourmaline infused iron make a difference?Answer: Let me explain the theory and you can decide. Tourmaline is a semi-precious stone mined in Africa. When heated up, it releases electrically charged ions that are supposed to bond to the shaft of your hair. This bonding in turn seals the cuticles and reinforces any weak spots along the shaft. As a result your hair is supposed to be shinier and silkier looking. Does yours?

Beyond that there are a few other things you should look for in a curling iron:

One, does it get hot enough to adequately curl your hair?

Two, is it the right size barrel for the curls you want to create? Smaller barrels mean tighter curls, larger barrels mean bigger curls; tapered ones offer the best of both?

Three, is it easy to hold and use?

And four, is it a high enough quality iron to last you a long time?

Assuming yours is all that and a bag of chips, (where did that come from?) here’s a great video on how to get the most out of yours.

5 Ways Hair Curling Tutorial

Here’s the five curling techniques shared:

The Classic

Natural – psn 4:28

Tight – psn 6:25

Twist – psn 8:40

Loose Waves – psn 10:40

Notice the position in the video is listed where each of the five types are demonstrated. That way if you are interested in a tight curl and don’t have time to watch the entire tutorial you can jump to that point and take in how it’s done.

Hot Styling Tool of Choice: To get all of these she uses a curling iron with a one inch barrel.

Pro Tip#1: Choose Clipless Iron

Suggested because you may find clipless curling irons are easier to work with.

Pro Tip#2: No Fry with That

Before you begin to tango with any hot tools it’s more than a good idea to apply a heat protectant. Can’t over emphasize this point.

With that reminder out of the way, the first technique is called the Classic Curl. So named because it’s the simplest way to curl your hair.

All you do is take a section and flatten your hair – think like a ribbon. This flattening is critical to making this one work.

Do what you can to keep it flat as you wrap around the barrel of the iron, not leaving any space between any of the hair as it is wrapped around the iron.

Hold.

Release.

Don’t rush it. Give the hair plenty of time on the iron to set. You may find that to be like 15 seconds or so.

Pro Tip#3: Provide Cool Down Time

It’s always smart with any curling techniques to release the curled strands into the palm of your hand to give them a chance to cool down which will help the curl to last.

It might be better still to simply use a duckbill clip to clamp the coil against your head. Doing it that way you can give that coiled bit hot hair plenty of time, as in five minutes plenty at least, to cool down sufficiently.

Pro Tip#4: Use Enough Heat

Yeah, make sure the iron is hot enough.

That means you want to dial it up to something in the 320- 350 degrees F range depending on how coarse or fine your hair is. Obviously thicker coarser hair will require higher temps to create a lasting curl.

Anyway the result with this first one is a pretty spiral curl that cascades voluminously.

The second technique is called the more Natural Curl because it tends to look like naturally curly hair would. Think imperfect and maybe a bit unruly even.

Which is okay. That’s what you want with this one – natural-looking body.

So this technique involves curling part of the selected section away your face wrapping it twice around the barrel.

Hold.

Release.

Then curl the bottom part of the strand in the opposite direction or towards your face.

Hold.

Release.

Again hold it long enough to give it time to set in your hand.

You can rake the strand if you prefer to give it a bit more of a relaxed, tousled, textured look.

As you will see, when compared there’s a distinct difference between the Classic and Natural Curl in appearance.

Pro Tip #5. Know When to Use Bigger vs Smaller Sections

Pretty simple actually.

Working with smaller sections will give you tighter curls.

Bigger ones will produce more of a wavy outcome.

Also, you want to try to work with similar sized sections as that will give a more consistent style in the end.

The Tight Curl approach requires you work with a smaller section.

That’s one of the differences between this method and the Classic.

The other difference to note is there is space between the wraps on the barrel of the iron.

You can see how, unlike with the Classic, that little bit of spacing creates a wavy shape in the curled strand.

Don’t fret over any part of the section that doesn’t get barrel time. After setting the curl you’ll just wrap that bottom part to complete the process.

The result is a cute, nicely coiled ringlet almost look.

The final step is to shake the hair a little to give you your tighter yet bouncy result.

Next up is number four or the Twist Curl. This will morphs into a beach wave in the end.

Think of it as a variation of the Classic just with a twist.

Again this one calls for a smaller section of hair.

As the name implies you’re first going to twist the strand – away from your face please.

When it comes to placing the twist on the iron, remember to keep plenty of tension on it.

Hold.

Release.

After letting it set, you can see the tendril affect that has initially been created.

Obviously you’re going to loosen that up some by tousling them with your fingers.

Pro Tip#6: Don’t Overdo the Tousling

It’s always best to stop doing this while the strand is curled a bit more tightly than you ultimately desire. Because no matter how careful you are gravity will cause the curl to fall some.

Still, done right, ultimately you’ll be left with an interesting beachy wave affect. Distinctly different from the other four.

Which brings us the fifth and final technique.

Loose Wave – otherwise known as Victoria Secret model hair!

This one’s perfect for those days when styling time is short because unlike the Twist or Tight curls you’ll be working with bigger sections of hair.

With this technique you’ll start lower down the strands. Then after the hair is wrapped around the iron, you want to slide the barrel in a back and forth like motion so the strands don’t exactly sit on the curling iron per se.

Makes for a quick style.

You end up with a nice loose wave which you’ll comb with your fingers to loosen it up some more leaving you with plenty of soft, loose definition. Or a perfect way to get a little life in your locks.

The remainder of the video is a fast forward through curling the rest of her locks to complete the look.

But you can’t argue with the final result. A head full of curly hair that looks romantic, elegant, and voluminous all at the same time.

Pro Tip#7: Make ‘Em Last

The biggest complaint about curling iron curls? They don’t last.

So if you’re thinking “this is great and all but the style won’t hold” then here’s the fix. Yep, it’s time to reach for the product.

First try applying mousse before curling.

Then pull out a light texturizing spray to add more grip and body into the curl afterwards.

Why texturing spray rather than hair spray? Good question. The latter adds too much weight which can ultimately encourage the curls to droop which kinda defeats the purpose. Not so much with texturing spray.

If you still have issues with the curls not lasting cut back on conditioner when planning on curling iron time.

Those are some tips on how to make curling iron curls last longer than five minutes, if you know what I mean.

Anyway, thought this was a quick and nifty overview tutorial on how to create curls five ways.

The result is gorgeous curls galore.

Remember, Rome wasn’t built in a day. So you shouldn’t necessarily expect to master any of these techniques in one setting. Or even a week or two maybe.

So no throwing your curling iron against the wall if you aren’t doing this as effortlessly as you think you should the first few times.

OMG! It takes practice and time to discover how to make this work with your hair?

Yes, hope that’s okay.

So there you have it. With the quality of today’s curling irons, you no longer need to fry your mane into submission. You can safely, and by that I’m assuming the use of heat protecting spray, but you can safely achieve salon worthy hair at home.

More specifically, you now know five ways to get the best curls from a curling iron. Ways that can take you go straight to outrageously gorgeous.

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About Tori

Tori is a recovering shoe addict and aspiring beach bum with a devotion to all things chocolate. Her goal is to make TerrificTresses your online destination for all things hair. Whether it’s ideas to keep things stylish and chic or answers to nagging hair care problems, you’ll find it here. You might look at as your irregular dose of hair care inspiration. Oh and you can find me on GooglePlus too.